The U.S. Department of Education High School Graduation Initiative, formerly known as the School Dropout Prevention program, is inviting applications. The official notice was posted in the Federal Register on June 18, 2010. Applications are due July 28, 2010. The application identifies two priorities: effective early identification, prevention, and intervention programs and collaboration with other agencies. State and local education agencies are eligible to apply for schools serving students in grades 6–12 with a dropout rate higher than the state average.

Effective Dropout Programs

Traditional dropout prevention programs have targeted only at-risk students, often in programs not well integrated with the rest of the high school experience. According to the What Works Clearinghouse Dropout Prevention practice guide [2mb PDF], schoolwide transformation that improves the learning experience for all students has an important role to play in keeping students in school and on track to graduate. According to Dr. Russell Rumberger, a coauthor of the guide, in a school that engages students, “Kids know each other. Teachers know each other. Teachers know kids. There are many ways to do that, but at a schoolwide level, the way you do that is to create a small learning community.” In this video, from a keynote speech at a recent research forum hosted by REL Northwest, Rumberger identifies some of the indicators of students at risk of dropping out and highlights six strategies that schools can use to implement the recommendations in the guide:

1. Utilize data systems that support a realistic diagnosis of the number of students who drop out and that help identify individual students at high risk of dropping out
2. Assign adult advocates to students at risk of dropping out
3. Provide academic support and enrichment to improve academic performance
4. Implement programs to improve students’ classroom behavior and social skills
5. Personalize the learning environment and instructional process
6. Provide rigorous and relevant instruction to better engage students in learning and provide the skills needed to graduate and to serve them after they leave school

SLC Intersections

Education Northwest’s Recreating Secondary Schools program focuses on small learning communities not as a structural change, but as a path to improved rigor and relevance that keeps all students engaged in learning. Reorganization does not improve student achievement (or retention) if it doesn’t impact what is happening in the classroom. Rumberger agrees. In his presentation of the six recommendations, he emphasizes: “The key [recommendation] is about classroom instruction. At some point, if they don’t learn anything, they are not going to be successful. And where learning happens is in the classroom. In some ways, the last recommendation is perhaps the most important.” Our recent brief, “Lessons Learned from High School SLC and Small School Reform Efforts,” outlines successful strategies for using small school size as a fulcrum for instructional improvement.

Learn More

On July 7 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) Education Northwest will host a webinar describing how small learning communities and other school reform strategies that improve rigor and relevance for all students can be part of an effective dropout prevention program. The webinar will provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions about the most effective approaches to dropout prevention. Participation is limited to the first 20 registrants. An archived version of the presentation will be available for those not able to participate.